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Oil Off on Economy Fears, OPEC Forecasts

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices plunged Tuesday, picking up downward momentum amid concerns that a slowing economy might reduce demand for crude just as OPEC members are considering an increase in production, according to the Associated Press.

Prices were also pressured by apparent progress at the Mideast peace summit in Annapolis, Md.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery dropped $3.28 to settle at $94.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract is nearly $5 below its all-time high of $99.29 set last week.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 4:25 PM to Crude oil market | Permalink | Comments 0

Toyota, Japanese Carmakers Raise Output

TOKYO -- Japan's top automaker Toyota said Tuesday its global production climbed 14.4 percent in October, moving it closer to overtaking General Motors of the U.S. as the world's biggest automaker, according to the Associated Press.

Four other major Japanese automakers also reported overall production gains for the month.

Toyota said its worldwide production rose to 905,264 vehicles in October, while its domestic output rose 11 percent to 491,902 units.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:14 AM to Toyota | Permalink | Comments 0

Nissan Recalling Altima, Sentra Vehicles

WASHINGTON -- Nissan is recalling 686,500 Altima and Sentra passenger cars to fix problems with a sensor that could lead to engine stalling, according to the Associated Press.

Nissan Motor Co. spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said Monday there have been no reports of crashes or injuries tied to the issue. More than 650,000 of the recalled vehicles are in the United States, with the remainder in Mexico and Canada.

The Japanese automaker said in a Nov. 16 letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the recall affects Altima and Sentra vehicles from the 2002 and 2005-2006 model years equipped with a 2.5 liter engine.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:13 AM to Nissan | Permalink | Comments 0

Oil Prices Extend Losses in Europe

VIENNA, Austria -- Oil prices continued to slide Tuesday on growing expectations that OPEC ministers will raise crude production following a meeting next week, according to the Associated Press.
A sharp sell-off on Wall Street overnight contributed to a decline in oil futures.

Crude's ascendancy has been stymied in recent weeks in part by conflicting signals from members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries about their willingness to add supplies to the global oil market. Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari appeared to remove one of the obstacles to increased OPEC supplies over the weekend when he said his country is willing to lift production if needed.

"If statistics and data indicate there is a need to produce more oil, we have the capacity to increase the output and supply more oil for the market," Nozari told reporters.

Many traders believe Saudi Arabia is pushing for production increases against opposition from Iran, Venezuela and other OPEC members. CNBC reported Monday that Saudi Arabia has already boosted its oil output. Analysts said that confirms reports last week by two research firms that found OPEC production is rising faster than expected.

But Vienna's PVM Oil Associates noted that OPEC's seaborne oil exports in the first half of November dropped 340,000 barrels a day from the second half of October to 22.48 million barrels a day.

"The outage of major UAE fields due to maintenance was partly ... responsible for the developments," PVM said. It also noted U.S. National Weather Center predictions for colder than normal temperatures in the next 10 days - which could drive up heating oil demand.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery dropped $1.09 to $97.61 a barrel by midday in Europe in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 48 cents to settle at $97.70 Monday.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:10 AM to Crude oil market | Permalink | Comments 0